District News

Information about Seattle Public Schools' construction costs

Seattle Public Schools is building schools based on what is best for our students, families and community.

We build schools to house before/after child-care space, ample libraries for our kids to access resources, computer labs to help build 21st Century skills, flexible space to meet growth needs, and adequate space for programs, such as bilingual and special education.

We anticipate 7,000 additional students over the next 10 years and the BEX IV levy will help us ensure that each student has a safe and secure place to learn.

Seattle has unique needs, which can cost more than other smaller school districts:

• Our buildings are older than suburban/rural districts.

• We have an emphasis on technology in our schools.

• Most BEX IV school projects involve demolition of existing buildings to prepare the site for construction, and interim housing for the school community for at least one year while the new facility is being built. Those are costs often not borne by other districts.

• We have higher site-development costs because we are an urban district and need to meet required local codes.

• Our soft costs include furniture, fixtures, technology equipment and curriculum materials that may be itemized and borne for separately in other school districts.

We build schools to meet the needs of our students. The size of our schools is based on:

• Input from instructional and administrative staff.

• Curriculum needs.

• Contractual requirements for teacher Planning Conference and Preparation space (PCP), which are different for each school district. Therefore, capacity is calculated differently from district to district.